Alpamanta Estate

The vineyards of Mendoza wine region in Argentina, where the Alpamanta Estate is situated, are amongst the most scenic in the world; they may lack the precipitous drama of the Douro or the Mosel Valleys, but they more than make up for this with their extraordinarily beautiful back-drop of the Andes Mountains.

Located at just under 1000 metres above sea-level, they bask in a wonderful fresh air and enjoy the natural irrigation afforded by the melting snow from the mountains. No better place for a biodynamic winemaker of the calibre of peripatetic Dutchman, Andrej Razumovsky, whose surname, coincidentally, is shared with a very famous set of mid-period quartets by Beethoven.

His vines are all in the most southerly part of Mendoza, Ugarteche, which falls within the district of Luján de Cuyo. The biodynamic approach involves natural yeasts, minimal use of sulphates and adherence to use of specific treatments such as camomile, Ortega nettle and dandelion, all carefully applied to coincide with lunar and tidal patterns.